My Musings

"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God." Psalm 46:4

I invite you to pull up to this stream of thoughts and insights and relax a moment from your travels. I hope you find salient information and inspiration in the essays, sermons and book reviews below. Enjoy! (Image Credit: “River landscape with Deer,” by Frederick Arthur Bridgman, 1847-1928).

The apostles lived in evil times. At the Jerusalem temple, seven weeks after Jesus was crucified, the apostle Peter preached, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.” (Acts 2:40). About 3,000 were moved by Peter’s preaching and by God’s Spirit to face their own sinful corruption and submit to life-changing baptism. Jesus’ church was born on that day!

Delegate Patrick Henry (1736 –1799) rose to speak his mind to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. He proposed that his fellow delegates act to organize volunteer companies of cavalry and infantry in Virginia to prepare for the military conflict he knew was coming.

The British army was building up its troops on the continent and Mr. Henry asked his audience, “Has Great Britain any ...

The big fish in the biblical book of Jonah is just a detour in the drama. The British preacher G. Campbell Morgan (1863 –1945) once said, “Men have been looking so hard at the great fish that they have failed to see the great God.” Unlike the self-willed prophet Jonah, the big fish was simply following God’s command. The main character in Jonah is Yahweh, the God of Israel. Here’s a short list of ...

My wife and I purchased a small devise with an amazing capacity to direct us to wherever we want to go on the map. It’s called a GPS (Global Positioning System) and our friends say, “It’s about time!” Okay, it’s also about space. Anyhow, I will miss the sheer pleasure of having to stop and ask strangers for directions.

Welcome to the 21st century! We’ve come a long way from having to, as Paul said, ...

According to George Washington’s biographer, James Flexner, he was the “indispensable man” of US history. While other statesmen were signing documents, Washington was in the field training an army in the courage, stamina, and skill required to stand behind those documents. Outnumbered by the enemy, Washington’s ability to keep his troops together under dire circumstances was indispensable. In securing our Independence, he did the impossible against all odds and against the most powerful military force ...

Politicians profess great love for the common man while promising to use government wealth and power to take care of commoners. Sadly, this works like a charm in the new America that sees rugged individualism as a vice, not a virtue.

Rugged individualism is a tremendous force for good when it takes shape as a selfless advance toward accepting personal responsibility. Virtuous individualism calls up the courage to emerge from the crowd to play a self-reliant ...

There are three Philips in the New Testament, all mostly forgotten. None were mentioned in the great faith chapter in Hebrews (11) but two out of three lived with a faith in Jesus worth finding.

Philip the Apostle.

First, there was a Philip from Bethsaida (a fishing village) among the 12 disciples. He was the pragmatist who calculated how much it would cost to feed a crowd (John 6:7). Later, Philip asked Jesus to show them ...

The gospels tell us that Jesus tangled with demons during his days on earth. Things did not go so well for the dark side in those conflicts. Okay, I don’t know much about demons, but this much I do know: they believe in God! The apostle James wrote:

“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” (James 2:19)

Years ago, people generally spoke of motherhood and apple pie as quintessential qualities that would always define America. Okay, baseball sometimes gets pitched in too. Today, sadly, America has descended into a strange antipathy for motherhood. The evidence:

With great vigilance, America’s government and culture defends the “right” to kill innocent babies at will in a mother’s womb. America even uses the force of politics to ensure that taxpayers play a part in subsidizing this ...

The twentieth century was filled with tragedy and triumph. Defeating fascism and communism called for incredible statesmanship and great leaders like Churchill, FDR, Reagan, and Thatcher. Paul Johnson’s concise biography of our 34th president, Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) inclines me to add him to this list of leaders. He was not profoundly dynamic but he was the leading force on the ground ...